Yuhas wins crash-marred race

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 8:00 pm, Sunday, April 10, 2005

"You never know what's going to happen here," said Yuhas, who's from Groton. "We had a bad heat race; I started 13th (in the feature) and just knew it was going to be one of those races you had to survive."

"On every restart I jumped (Pasteryak) by half a car length, and the next thing I knew he was right alongside of me going into Turn 1. I knew Chris wasn't going to wreck me and he knew I wasn't going to wreck him. It was an all-out battle (to the finish)."

Pasteryak, winless last season, took mental notes from the close loss.

"I learned that I've got to do something to my car to make it fire up before three laps on a restart. After three laps, it was good. The first three laps (maybe the cold track didn't help). It was a good race to watch at the end."

The multi-car melee on Lap 19 caused the race to be red-flagged to a halt for about 20 minutes. The cars of leader Rob Janovic and contenders Dennis Charette, Shawn Monahan and Tom Fox were among those sidelined. The incident led to flared tempers, a few thrown punches and some biting remarks by those involved.

"The car's pretty much a loss," said Janovic. "I got taken out by some asinine moves some of these guys made. It's going to be a long week."

"There was not a whole lot thinking or giving going on out there," said Fox.

"It's a shame that some of those guys were driving over their heads," charged Charette.

Defending champion Ed Reed was watching the race, since his car owner decided not to enter. "You've got some bonehead drivers out there who don't know what they're doing," Reed added.

Roxbury's Kurt Lenahan, driving the car in which he won a feature in 2003, placed sixth. Five-time champion Dennis Gada, in a car owned by Joe and Tony Schumann of New Milford, was caught in the Lap 19 wreck; he returned to finish 12th. The car of New Milford's Mark Pane suffered a broken rear-end mount; he wound up 25th.

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Joe Schumann's not used to his car-owner status for Dennis Gada. "I had some lousy luck (as a driver) last year," said Schumann, "and it cost me a lot of money. I think Dennis needed a car owner; he had too much to do by himself last year. It'll take a while for him to adjust to how we do things."

Denis Pruchnik, crew chief for Pane's No. 57, said he'd like to see Mark become "more aggressive" as a driver. "I told him to go racing and don't worry about it. Sometimes you need to make a daring move and sometimes you'll wreck. That's just the way it is. But he'll get it, he's only had a year in these cars."

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Allen Coates of Ledyard nabbed the 30-lap Late Model feature. Mark St. Hilaire was second, trailed by Bruce Thomas, Carl Erikkson and Wayne Coury. Coates won five races in 2004 and is a three-time track titlist in the Late Model ranks.

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Gada, who ran his own car in '04, was prompted to look elsewhere, when his former car owner, Harry Wyant of Washington Depot, indicated he could not return in a fulltime capacity. � Pruchnik has a car ready for Danbury's George "Mad Dog" Bessette to drive at Thompson Speedway. � Lenahan's working on a second car for possible use at Stafford Speedway. � Two-time Speedbowl champion Jimmy Broderick will replace Mark Pane for the rescheduled Modified Nationals May 21-22. Pane has a schedule conflict: he's getting married. � Race director Bill Roberts warned the drivers about the new 10 mph pit lane restriction. "The fine will be $100," he said. "If that doesn't work, we'll start taking drivers' points away." � Lebanon Valley co-Sportsman champ Bob Knipe has a new PMC chassis ready with a Ford engine for his No. 18. The team sold its former car to the Jones brothers - Chris and Cliff - of New Milford.

Ron Mentus is a freelance writer. Write to him c/o The News-Times, 333 Main St., Danbury, CT, 06810.